Thanks, Malfunctioning Twist of Fate
by Maydrei
Summary: An elevator fic, but not quite what you'd expect. Let's throw Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto together in an elevator with a pack of cards, tempers, and jealousy for a night and see what happens.
1. Chapter 1

Really, this had to be some sick twist of fate. When the three of them got into the elevator, none of them had any idea that it would malfunction between floors. When it did happen, none of them were happy with it.

Sasuke was just plain aggravated, angry that the elevator had malfunctioned in the first place, throwing a wrench in his schedule.

Sakura would have been ecstatic to be stuck in a small, private space with Sasuke, except of course Naruto had to be there to ruin her moment.

Naruto was thrilled to be so close to Sakura, but Sasuke put a damper on the whole mood.

Needless to say, none of them were in a good mood.

Five minutes earlier, they had all stepped into the elevator, all expecting to be going home. Sakura had stayed late because she realized a number of typos on the file she was planning to hand in the next day, and her printer was giving her problems, which was why she was one of the last people in the building. Sasuke had a meeting with their boss, a discussion over how his team was doing on their current project. It had to be late because it was the only time the two could figure out a time to meet, after all the hustle and bustle had left the building. Naruto had fallen asleep at his desk.

The three had happened to converge on the elevator hallway at the same time. Though Naruto loathed the idea of sharing an elevator with Sasuke, who Naruto had never liked and recently grown to hate because of Sakura's attraction to him, it was obvious that Sakura was going to ride down with him. Any time he could spend with Sakura he would hardly say no.

The three stepped inside, all looking a little aggravated, Naruto at Sasuke, Sakura at Naruto, and Sasuke at the general presence of people. Naruto had punched the button for the lobby, and the three watched as everyone did as the doors slid closed. There was a light bump, and then they could feel that uneasy, not-quite-sure feeling of going down. They watched the numbers slowly dwindle with boredom, and between Floor 5 and Floor 4 there was an almighty _lurch_, causing Sakura to squeal and lose her footing in her high heels, and Naruto and Sasuke to clutch at the rails. Both men reached out and caught Sakura by the arms to keep her from falling.

After a moment, where they had all frozen, terrified that the elevator would plummet, they took a collective breath and eased their clenched muscles. Sakura got her feet under her and pushed her hair out of her face, looking at Sasuke and giving him shaky thanks, much to Naruto's chagrin. Hello? He wasn't the only one to catch you.

Sasuke ignored her and carefully hit a few buttons, to no response. He punched the emergency button a couple of times, frowning, but nothing happened. (Naruto realized in the back of his mind that he had no idea what that button was supposed to do.)

There was silence. None of them had a clue what to do in this sort of situation. They looked at each other, then back at the elevator controls, as though expecting something to happen.

Finally, Sakura cleared her throat and voiced what they were all thinking. "We're stuck in here, aren't we?"

She didn't expect an answer, and didn't get one. Dully she was pleased that none of them, including her, was the type to panic. Wouldn't be very helpful, now, would it? "Tomorrow morning the first few people will be coming into work, I think. The cleaning staff already left. Surely they'll notice that we're stuck here."

She glanced at her two newly made companions. Naruto was still frowning, eyeing the doors, while Sasuke had pulled out a cell phone. Sakura rushed to pull out hers, embarrassed she hadn't thought of it herself.

"No service," Sasuke said dully.

"I do!" Sakura quickly thumbed around the keypad, when suddenly it gave a double beep and went dead. She blinked and stared at in her hand, pressing the power button. Nothing. Fighting the impulse to chuck it against the wall, Sakura shoved it viciously back into her purse. "Never mind."

Together they turned and looked at Naruto, whose face was a little nervous. "Left mind at my desk," he said awkwardly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, his dislike in this man growing. On principle he had disliked Naruto since meeting him, his loud obnoxious manner enough to drive Sasuke mad. Sakura merely sighed, having learned to expect disappointment from Naruto ever since she had worked with him.

After a moment, Naruto moved to sit down, then smiled. From his back pocket he pulled out a stack of playing cards. "Anyone up for a game?"

Sakura would have been amused if they weren't in such a serious situation. She had to admit, having cards would make the time pass much faster. She carefully sat down in her skirt, then looked up at Sasuke. Sighing, he reluctantly sat down too.

After a while, Sakura managed to put aside her worry, the game and Naruto's constant jokes making her relax. This could be a lot worse, she decided. If the elevator didn't come back on line on its own, then they only had to spend a night together in it. The next morning people would notice that the elevator was broken and three of their staff hadn't shown up for work.

And Naruto could actually be sort of funny, in a slightly annoying way. Sakura had only seen him while attempting to work together, which was horrible. He didn't do his work, couldn't pay attention, and spent way to much time trying to flirt with her and the other girls more than she could stand. Outside of work, however, he wasn't that bad. True, Sakura would have _much _preferred to spend the night with just Sasuke, but at least she wasn't alone.

Eyeing Sasuke, Sakura felt a little saddened. He didn't want to be here, that was obvious. He only played for something to do, and he didn't bother saying anything. She wished he wasn't so cold towards her. He must have been aware of her feelings for him, she was sure. It wasn't that she had said it directly, but she went out of her way to talk to him or help him out. And he always just brushed her off…

"I win!" Naruto cried, grinning with glee. Sakura shook her head and tossed her cards at his feet, as did Sasuke. Getting stiff, she twisted side to side and was rewarded with small relieving pops and cracks. Not quite getting them all out, she twined her fingers together and stretched her arms over her head, arching her back. Naruto paused for a moment to eye her and take in the curves of her body as her blouse was pulled tight, then quickly glanced away, flushing. To distract himself he loosened the tie around his neck, saying, "Is it just me, or are you guys starting to feel hot too?"

Sasuke shrugged, having not even glanced at Sakura, glancing back at the elevator doors as if they would now open after making them wait for so long. Idly he shrugged out of his dress jacket and set it beside the briefcase he had brought with him. Sakura let out a yawn and also shrugged. "Sort of, I guess. I'm more tired than hot, though."

But now, of course that he had mentioned it, Sakura did start to feel a little hot. And her shoes were killing her. She tugged them off, then unbuttoned the first two buttons of her collar as Naruto pointedly looked at his hands as he loosened his tie more. "Up for another game?" he asked.

"I guess…" Sakura fought another yawn. "But I'm starting to get sleepy."

Sasuke did not contribute his opinion and merely started to gather the cards and shuffle. Sakura eyed him a bit too much for Naruto's liking. Hiding a scowl, he cleared his throat and asked, "Why don't we play something else?"

"I can play Blackjack," Sakura said. "Or war. But that takes forever."

"Blackjack it is," Naruto said with a smile, happy to have her attention on him and not Sasuke. "I'll be dealer."

As soon as the game wrapped up, Sakura pushed her cards over to Naruto and announced she needed to sleep. Sasuke was showing signs of weariness also, though he didn't bother to voice he was tired. He settled himself in a corner as Sakura laid down (she was supremely grateful the cleaning crew had cleaned the elevator floor before leaving for the night), attempting to use her lumpy purse as a pillow. For a brief moment Naruto tried to figure out a way to offer her to use him as a pillow without sounding totally creepy—and then Sasuke ruined it by gently tossing his jacket on her. She sat up, looked at the jacket, then thanked him, positively beaming. Naruto gave him a death glare which he did not see. Sasuke closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.

Naruto was beyond irritated as he watched Sakura—still smiling from ear to ear, mind you—mold his jacket into a pillow that she could still hold and lay down facing Sasuke. He scowled as he saw her snuggle her face down into the fabric and looked away, gathering his _stupid _deck of _stupid _cards and glared at _stupid _Sasuke for a long time.

When he got bored of that, Naruto looked away. While his co-workers might be tired from a long day's work, he had slept half the afternoon away and was still plenty alert. Sighing, he set out to make a card castle on the elevator floor.

Sakura was having trouble falling asleep on the hard tile, and tried to distract herself with distracting and calm thoughts. They soon enough turned to Sasuke, the smell of him in her nose from his jacket. Smiling to herself, Sakura let her mind wander.

…_Naruto was asleep. When Sakura picked up her head, Sasuke was watching her. She felt a blush cross her face, which grew as she realized he was moving closer. "S-Sasuke…" she muttered, moving to sit up. _

_He put a finger to her lips, jerking his head towards Naruto. "Don't want to wake him up," he said quietly, eyes dancing with mischief. He set an arm on the opposite side of her and leaned in close, smirking…_

Sakura fell asleep with a very pleased smile on her face.

An hour into his card castle construction, Naruto began to get very bored. The highest he had gotten was four levels, and after the castle fell apart for probably the hundredth time, Naruto was losing the attraction. He wished he could fall asleep, but for some reason he was feeling extremely hyper…and there wasn't much in this small space to entertain him.

Both of his companions were asleep, so he couldn't talk. He could watch Sakura, but he decided that'd be a bit too creepy. Naruto didn't even like looking at Sasuke. He stuck a finger under his collar and tugged, rolling his shoulders and undoing his tie. Grumbling, he turned back to his frayed cards and once again began to create his fortress.

A little groan drew his attention up. Sakura was stirring, curling up and stretching her legs out. She half rolled towards him, arm splayed across her stomach. The castle crumbled as Naruto stared, swallowing hard. Cards zoomed across the smooth floor in different directions. Naruto couldn't help but notice that her, er, position showed off her curves. Quite agreeably, too. He flushed around the collar and tried to look away, to do the polite thing, but then she made this little noise in the back of her throat and he couldn't help himself. She rolled over completely and slid her arm under her head, settling down again.

And Naruto's mind got away from him.

…_Sakura picked up her head, stretching out and yawning. Her eyes fell on him and she smiled coyly, sitting up. "You're staring," she told him._

_"A little hard not to," Naruto muttered under his breath, but Sakura grinned like she knew what he had said._

_"What was that?" she asked._

_"Nothing," Naruto said quickly. Sakura's smile grew. She crawled over on her hands and knees._

_"Tell me what you said," she demanded lightly._

_Naruto tried to clear his throat as she got closer and leaned back against the elevator wall. "What are you doing?" he asked, voice a little higher than he would have liked._

_She smiled like a cat. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "What do you want me to do?" Her hands found his shoulders and Naruto gave a nervous little laugh. Sakura tugged at his tie and threw a leg over him, straddling his waist. She smiled again. "What…do you want me to do?" she repeated slowly…_

This time Naruto forced himself to look away. He didn't know why, but a small spike of jealousy flared in him. If Sakura knew what he was doing, she'd yell at him and call him a pervert. If she caught _Sasuke _staring at her, she'd be all flattered and blush and flutter her eyelids at him.

He just didn't understand it. He'd heard the women he worked with talk about him, about how 'dreamy,' 'mysterious,' and 'hot' Sasuke was, but he just couldn't see the attraction. As far as Naruto could tell, he was an absolute ice cube to everyone around him. He didn't give a single woman a second glance, all he did all day was sit in his office with the door closed and blinds pulled. What was so mysterious about that? More like the creepy behavior of a serial killer, Naruto thought.

Sakura stirred once more, grumbling gently. She opened her eyes and stared at the elevator floor for a second, and at a card that had settled beneath her nose, then her eyes started to focus and drifted her gaze upward. It followed the stream of cards, then fell on Naruto's shoe. Blinking, Sakura looked up into his face.

They looked at each other for a moment, then Sakura said quietly, "You're staring."

"Was I?" Naruto asked, now staring at the floor. He was grumpy now.

Sakura didn't answer and took in the elevator. She let out a sigh. "You know, I had hoped I had just dreamed this."

Naruto rolled his eyes. That was flattering.

She pushed herself up and yawned. "How long was I asleep?"

Naruto glanced at his watch. "Only an hour. It's midnight."

Sakura nodded and looked around again. Her eyes lingered on Sasuke. Naruto let out a snort and shook his head. She turned and looked at him. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Didn't say anything."

Her eyes narrowed. "Liar. You got something to say it, say it."

"Fine." Naruto drew himself up straight. "You're obsessed with him, aren't you? Head over heels for him. Has he even started a conversation with you?"

Sakura's face flushed. "Shut up. It's none of your business."

"You asked me to say what I thought."

"You wouldn't understand," Sakura snapped.

"You're right, I don't. I don't see how you can like such an ass." Naruto hadn't meant to say this, but now he was jealous and angry at her defensiveness. "He's cold, he doesn't talk to you, hardly even _looks _at you, and you love him. No matter how many times he's snubbed you or rejected your offers to go out, you won't leave him alone."

Sakura drew herself up, face angry. "What are you attacking me for? You're angry, aren't you?" Naruto grumped and looked away. She narrowed her eyes. "I get it. You're jealous."

He looked at her. Feeling bold, he asked, "So what if I am?"

She paused, taken aback. She hadn't expected him to admit it. Sure, he flirted with her all the time, but she didn't see him actually having feelings for her. Gathering herself again, she blustered, "It's no reason to take it out on me."

Naruto glared at her. He wanted to say a lot of things at once and couldn't choose what to say first. Finally, exasperated, he demanded, "Just what do you like about him?"

"You mean, what does he have that you don't?" she spat, still angry. Naruto scowled at her. "How 'bout some class? A little refinement? Modesty, politeness? Chivalry?"

Naruto snorted. "You think he's polite? And what's so chivalrous about him?"

"He gave me his jacket, he caught me from falling—"

"So did I, and if I had a jacket I would do the same! You probably get all fluttery if he holds the door open for you—any nice person would do the same. That's the minimum for being polite, Sakura. Has he ever gone out of his way to do something for you—or anyone, for that matter?"

Sakura couldn't think of anything to retort with. Finally, she said, "At least he's responsible. It's not like he _forgot _his cell phone, or fell asleep at his desk. That's why you were late, right? If you could actually do your job you wouldn't even be here!"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Naruto snapped. "All alone with Sasuke, the ice cube. What, did you think you would have a heart to heart talk with him and he'd end up in love with you? Life isn't a romance book, Sakura. Even if I wasn't here, do you honestly think he'd even talk to you? That you'd find out all his secrets? Is that why you're attracted to him? Because he's _mysterious?_"

Sakura just glared at him, too insulted and angry for words. Naruto barreled on, his frustration with seeing her falling over herself for this guy day after day getting to him.

"Or do you just like him because he's _attractive? _I've heard the women in the office gossip about him, about how much each one of them would like to get in his pants." Sakura opened her mouth, but Naruto cut her off. "Just like a romance novel, right? Getting stuck in the elevator with the man you love and ending up screwing—"

"How dare you!" Sakura yelled, exploding. "You think that I'm so shallow that that's what I want? This just shows how immature you are! Calling me a slut—"

"I didn't say that!" Naruto argued.

"What the hell are you two yelling about?" Sasuke demanded, sitting up and opening his eyes. Immediately Sakura and Naruto shut their mouths and stared at him. He was glaring, looking tired and irritated. "I'm trying to sleep. Keep it down or shut up."

He continued to glare for a few more moments, ensuring they weren't about to start up again, then leaned back again and closed his eyes.

Naruto stared hard at the wall to the side of Sakura, clenching his jaw. He hadn't meant to say those things. He knew he had gone too far, insulted her. His jealousy had gotten the better of him. Hinting about her sexual life had been over the line, especially for him.

Sakura was close to tears. Whenever she got angry, her eyes started to water. She was furious at Naruto for insulting her and Sasuke. How dare he, that—that jealous jackass. Stupid bastard.

The rest of the night was spent in silence, the air filled with tension. Naruto and Sakura didn't look at each other again. Naruto eventually fell into a fitful slumber, still angry even as he fell asleep. Sakura did the same.

---------

At six that morning, all three of them jumped and woke up to a loud ringing noise. Pushing themselves up, they blinked and looked around. The elevator gave a tremble, and suddenly began to drop. Sakura quickly got to her feet, fixing her clothes and hair from sleep. Sasuke stood and straitened his clothes, picking up his jacket and briefcase. Naruto groaned and pulled himself up with the rail, ruffling his hair.

The doors slid open, revealing the lobby. Three people were staring at them. Their boss, and two of the building staff. Sakura tumbled out, crying out with relief, and Naruto and Sasuke followed her.

After explaining, and making sure that everyone was okay, their boss ordered them to take the day off while he dealt with the staff. They happily agreed.

They walked out of the lobby together, groaning and stretching their legs. Sasuke went off to the parking lot where his car was without saying anything to Sakura or Naruto. Sakura followed him with her eyes, then glanced at Naruto. Grudgingly, together they walked towards the nearest subway tunnel.

Neither of them said anything as they got on, along with other people just going to work. Sakura tried to separate herself from him, but the subway was already full with morning commuters that they had to stand together.

Naruto's stop was first. As the doors opened, he looked down at Sakura and worked his mouth, wanting to apologize. He wasn't sure how to go about it. "Hey, Sakura…"

She wouldn't look at him. "This is your stop right? Get off."

He closed his mouth and left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Been having trouble with this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it.**

---------------

Naruto was tapping his pen against his desk, peeking out of his cubicle and into the aisle. He was dying to get a drink from the bubbler, but Sakura was busy fiddling with the printer right next to it. Since she continued to glare at him whenever he was in sight, Naruto had been doing his best to avoid her, packing away his pride and hiding in his cubicle when she was around.

It wasn't quite the manliest thing he'd done, but after the first incident, Naruto didn't dare risk another, or risk another shirt.

The first day back to work, Naruto spotted Sakura by the coffee maker in the lunchroom and made a beeline for her, meaning to apologize. Sakura saw him and scowled, turning her back as she poured coffee. Naruto had frowned, said something around the lines of 'Don't be like that' or some-such and grabbed her arm. Sakura promptly turned around and splashed his chest with burning hot coffee and briskly walked away as he howled and ran to the sink.

So, for now, Naruto wasn't taking any chances. He waited a little longer, and then Sakura left. Getting up, Naruto scurried over to the bubbler and quickly filled a cup.

"What's up with you?" Naruto glanced up and saw his coworker Kiba giving him a strange look.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Are you afraid of Sakura or something?" He walked up, grabbed a cup himself and filled it. Naruto didn't answer and Kiba narrowed his eyes. "Oh, don't tell me." He started to laugh. "She was the one who attacked you with the coffee yesterday, wasn't it? Even you aren't that clumsy."

"Shut up," Naruto said out of the corner of his mouth.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Kiba chuckled. "Man, what could you have done to piss her off like that? Did something happen in the elevator?" Everyone in the company had heard about the incident (more people now used the stairs), but only the floor that Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke worked on, the advertising floor, knew specifically who got trapped the entire night. Sakura got concern from her friends in the office, Sasuke got a surge of attention from the ladies in the office that usually involved baked goods, and Naruto…well, Naruto got laughed at by his friends who he worked with. Most of them knew that he had a thing for Sakura, so they thought it was hilarious he got stuck in the elevator with Sakura and her heartthrob. ("Geez, can your life get any suckier?" "Did she confess her love to him, right in front of you?" "How'd it feel to see her making goo-goo eyes at him all night?" "Was it painful to sleep next to her, knowing she doesn't care at you at all?")

To answer the question, Naruto crushed his cup and tossed it into the garbage, saying, "Not really. I told you everything that happened," he lied. He avoided telling them that he accused her of being a total idiot for Sasuke and that she pretty much thought he had called her a slut.

"Sure you did," Kiba snorted. "Then why are you sneaking around the cubicles and avoiding her like the plague? She didn't just _trip _and toss the coffee on you."

Naruto ignored him and slinked back to his desk. He plopped in the chair and spun around a few times, then decided he should probably get some work done.

--------

Sakura smiled as she finished off her work for the first half of the day and went to the lunch room to grab her meal she had left in the refrigerator. It was a little after the general lunch rush, so the room wasn't quite crowded and the table had plenty of seats. She grabbed her sandwich and salad and found a chair.

A worker from another division of the company, Rock Lee, glanced up when she sat down. He smiled and greeted her, munching on some sort of health or protein bar. Sakura returned the greeting. She liked Lee. He was sort of a 'general good guy,' pretty much everyone liked him, and the few times Sakura had to work with him had been enjoyable. She was always cautious, though, when around him, because lately she had felt that not-quite-sure vibe of 'he might like me I can't really tell' kinda thing. He was just too friendly with everyone to tell for her to really figure out.

They had a small generic conversation ("How's your work coming along?" "Fine, what about your project?" "It's going a little slow, but not bad.") while they ate, and it eventually turned to the elevator incident.

"Weren't you uncomfortable, being stuck in there with not only Uzamaki, but Uchiha too?"

Sakura shrugged. "Not really. But what was that, you have something against Sasuke?"

"Not really," Lee said quickly. "It's just…he always seemed kind of…aloof. Almost rude. I don't like working with him, he never seems to like people around. Just because he has his own office doesn't mean he's above me."

Sakura pursed her lips. Almost the same thing that idiot Naruto had said. And unlike Naruto, Sakura trusted Lee's judgment, most of the time. Stabbing the salad a little more forcefully than necessary, Sakura argued, "I don't find him aloof. He just doesn't talk much."

Now it was Lee's turn to shrug. "If you think so," he said simply, not going to start an argument, if only a small one.

The submission from him irked Sakura a little. She didn't like when people did that. Her food gone, she said goodbye to Lee and left, going back to her cubicle. It was decorated with a few pictures of her friends, a few ridiculously out of place stuffed animals to make her laugh, and a small corkboard on the wall. Her boss had mentioned he was pleased with her recent work, and Sakura prayed it meant a larger work space might be coming in the future. She hated being stuck in this little square all day.

Waiting on her desk was a note informing her of a meeting to be held at the end of the day she was to attend about her new project. Sakura wondered who her new group team would be. She had sort of liked her last group, they worked well with each other. Of course, she'd be ecstatic if Sasuke was in the group as the team leader, but Sakura didn't want to get her hopes up.

The afternoon came soon enough, and Sakura left for the meeting. There was approximately a dozen people in the room. She was apparently one of the last ones there—and yes, Sasuke was there! She immediately saw that all the seats around him had already been taken by female co-workers, which irritated her some, and sat down at the middle of the table as if she didn't see the smirks from the women around Sasuke.

Kiba was sitting across from her and watched all this unfold, trying not to roll his eyes. It was like this everyday—who could talk to Sasuke the most? Say hi to him first in the morning? Earn a goodbye at the end of the day? Who could make the best excuse to hang around him? Crazy women were everyone in this company.

Their supervisor was getting ready to begin speaking just as the door opened again and Naruto hurried in. Giving him a glare, the supervisor nodded curtly and motioned him to take a seat.

Sakura felt like banging her head against the desk. _Why, oh, why? Why do you insist on putting me together with him? What did I do to deserve this? _

Naruto saw her and quickly looked away, cursing his luck. Of course. Not only did he have to work with Sasuke, but Sakura was here too, and by her face, she wasn't at all pleased he was here. Looking up the table, he saw Kiba laughing silently to himself. _Yuck it up, jerk_, he thought with irritation.

The supervisor cleared his throat and began to explain what they would now be working on. "This isn't going to be a long project, only a few weeks probably, starting tomorrow. Just simple advertising…"

In a half hour it was over, and everyone stood to leave, save Sakura who was asked to help the supervisor with putting things away. Naruto left quickly, with Kiba on his heels, already being pelted with jokes. Sasuke stayed behind to discuss with the supervisor, as he had been appointed team leader, and responsible for the project.

As they talked, Sakura put away some first attempt poster ideas in a box, along with a paper full of suggestions, pictures of the product. She had just closed the top of the box when the supervisor and Sasuke had ended their discussion. She glanced up at him when he started to speak to her.

"Now, your boss told me that he's been keeping an eye on you, and he wants you to help Uchiha with everything so you learn how to do it yourself. He wants me to tell you there might be a promotion in the works if this goes well."

Sakura smiled and thanked him, though she had already figured out most of that out for herself. What she was really pleased with was that this meant she would be able to work closely with Sasuke.

The supervisor excused himself, saying that he would be dropping in every now and then to see how progress was going. When Sakura turned around, she realized Sasuke was watching her. She felt herself flush, and when he didn't say anything, she said abruptly, "So, we'll be working together. What do you think of the project?"

"It should be simple," Sasuke said simply. "Have you lead a project before?" Sakura said no, and he titled his head slightly, giving her nothing more to go on about how he felt about that. "Alright, well, since you probably have a cubicle…?" Sakura nodded, "Then that stuff should go into my office. Here." He left the room, Sakura behind him with the box and walking towards his office. After a moment, he turned around and grabbed the materials from her, earning a warm smile from her which he didn't respond to.

Undeterred, that smile stayed on her face as she followed him down the hallway. A few women were watching them, and when they realized that they were going into his office their faces turned to masks of fury. Sakura merely grinned at them and slipped into the office behind Sasuke, closing the door behind her.

The walls were glass, but Sasuke had the blinds pulled so people couldn't see in. He set the box on his desk and opened it, rifling though everything inside. "Could you take down the things on that corkboard?" he asked over his shoulder as he began to pull stuff out.

Sakura moved to the board he must be talking about, covered in papers that must be for his previous work. "All of it?"

"Just throw it in the trash, I don't need any of it anymore."

Sakura did as she was told, all the while taking the chance to look around the office and watch Sasuke. There wasn't any memorabilia; no pictures, books for pleasure, or little knickknacks. It all felt a little…cold to her, barren. She shook it off, telling herself he simply didn't want things to distract him while he worked.

Once the board was empty, Sasuke turned to look at it. "Alright, well, this is the stuff they have us to start out on…" he pulled out a few posters and stuck them to the board, advertising a soda. After a moment, Sakura said, "They look…bad." "Yeah, they do," Sasuke agreed. "Let's see…" he grabbed a marker from his desk. "Get rid of this here…" a mountain range in the back was scribbled out, "there's nothing rugged about a soft drink. Now, what else?"

Sakura eyeballed it, then said, "The color's are off. They don't look good."

"You're right," Sasuke said, and threw a note up about that.

It didn't take long for Sakura to get over her enthrallment with working with Sasuke to change her mindset to business. After some time of coming up with ideas and changes, Sakura frowned. "Shouldn't the rest of the team be doing this?"

"Probably," Sasuke said, putting down a pen as he stared at the posters. "But this makes it go faster. Don't have to deal with them bickering and arguing about what they want."Sakura frowned at his tone, but shook it off. Sasuke turned away from the board and sat at his desk. He nodded his head towards the chair on the other side of his desk for Sakura, and she quickly sat. "Let's leave that for now. Let me go over some of the things you'd be expected to do if you were the team leader."

Sasuke showed her how to set out a timeline for the project, and he helped her divide their group up into smaller sections with specific jobs. He showered her all of this with a cool voice, someone other than Sakura would have said he sounded bored or disinterested. But she ignored it and simply listened, trying her best to learn quickly and enjoy her time with him.

------------------

Naruto was getting ready to leave when he noticed that a good number of the floor's women were aimlessly walking around, mainly in front of Sasuke's office door. It looked like they were trying to peek inside.

He had made plans to leave with Kiba, and he had noticed the same thing. Throwing a curious look over to Naruto, he asked, "What the hell are you doing?"

One of the women threw him a withering glance, as if he wasn't worth her time. "Sasuke invited Sakura into his office two hours ago, and they still haven't come out."

Naruto felt a twinge of annoyance. He was really getting sick of this. "They're probably talking about the new project they have together," he said shortly.

"For two hours?" the woman, Ino, said suspiciously. "I don't think so."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Fine. Then they're obviously doing it, you happy?"

Ino squawked with outrage. "No way! And don't be so vulgar."

"Then what do you think they're doing?"

"I—I don't know, but I don't like it!" Ino snapped, glaring at the door as if she could see through it with enough willpower.

Naruto shook his head and started walking away. He wasn't going to sit around listening to crazy conspiracies about his coworkers getting it on in their offices. Kiba caught up with him as he reached the stairs. "Aw, come on, don't have a chip on your shoulder. I was just kidding."

"Yeah, I know," Naruto grumped as they started to go down flight after flight of stairs.

"Let's do something tonight! Cheer you up."

"I don't need to be cheered up. And tonight's Thursday, we have to come back to work tomorrow."

"Work-shmurk. I say we quit and start our own traveling circus."

"Yeah, featuring you."

--------------

Sakura bent over the desk, looking at what Sasuke had shown her. "Alright, I think I get it." Her eyes fell on the clock on the side of his calendar. "Oh wow, it's that time already?"

Sasuke glanced at it too and blinked. "Huh. Didn't even notice. Well, I guess we can continue tomorrow." Together they started to pack up.

Leaving the office, Sakura realized they were the last ones there. They were both carrying boxes Sasuke said he wanted to bring to his home, so she was a little unsure of taking the stairs. Trying to make a joke, she said, "Let's hope there's not going to be a repeat of the other night."

Sasuke shrugged. "There are worse things that could happen. Being stuck in the elevator with you wouldn't be that bad."

Sakura felt herself blush and fought down a smile. Backhanded compliment? She'd take it.

"And I'm not hefting these down seven flights of stairs. I think we can risk the elevator." He walked over to the doors and pressed the button, Sakura standing a little unsurely behind him. She didn't think that anyone took the elevators anymore, not after what happened the other night with the three of them.

When the doors finally slid open, the two got inside, Sasuke cool as always. He waited for Sakura to scuttle in, then pressed the button for the lobby.

Sakura held her breath as they slowly descended. It wouldn't be that bad to be stuck in here with Sasuke again, this time without Naruto… The thought of him made her scowl, and she realized that she was thinking just the way he had accused her of—romance novel way of thinking.

Annoyed with herself, she realized the elevator had already reached the lobby without any problems. Sasuke led her out of the lobby and into the parking lot where he had left his car. All the while, Sakura thought about what Naruto had said. She wasn't really like all the other women in the office, was she? Just attracted to him because he was handsome? There was more depth to her, wasn't there? Did she seem like an airhead, a ditz to Sasuke? She must to Naruto, why not him?

They put the boxes inside his car, Sakura still pondering. Sasuke paused, considering what to do. She had just helped him carry all this stuff, shouldn't he return the favor? "Do you want a ride back to your place?" he asked.

Sakura blinked and looked up at him. He was actually offering? As far as she knew, Sasuke never spoke to anyone from work after his shift was done, never mind offer them rides.

She was about to reply yes, she'd love to, when she stopped herself. Smiling, she said, "Thanks for offering, but I'll just take the subway. See you tomorrow, right?"

Sasuke was a little surprised at her refusal, but he didn't really care. "Right. See you tomorrow."

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**The ending seemed awkward to me, no matter how I tried to put it. Meh. I don't plan to have this a long story, so don't be expecting a lot more chapters.**


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